The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) will advise which level of authorisation you need for your activity, and can change the level of authorisation in order to protect the water environment.

If your business discharges trade effluent to a public sewer, you must have a valid trade effluent consent from your water and sewerage company.

GBRs

Certain low risk surface water discharges are authorised by GBRs. When you carry out an activity and comply with the relevant GBRs, you do not need to contact SEPA or apply for a formal authorisation.

Registrations

Registrations cover activities which present a low risk individually, but which cumulatively may pose a risk to the water environment. You must provide SEPA with a description of the controlled activity and its location. You must comply with a set of basic rules described in the notification of registration.

Whats new on NetRegs

Waste – Duty of Care Roles and Responsibilities

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has published a short guide to the duty of care responsibilities including advice and information for waste producers, carriers and those accepting, storing and treating waste.

Guidance from your environmental regulator

9 NEW GPPs (Guidance for Pollution Prevention) available now

The NetRegs team at SEPA, in partnership with The Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and a number of industry bodies have produced 9 new GPPs to replace out of date PPGs. More are coming! Check the available topics